good morning, i'm willie geist, and this is "way too early," the show that leads the early morning cable news league in quarterback rating. i'm glad you're up with us this morning watching on msnbc or listening live on sirius xm radio. e-mail me at waytooearly@msnbc.com//ortext" awake"followedbyyourresponseto62 2639. we'll read the best responses later in the show. the next 30 minutes will be your cram session for tuesday, october 2nd. a lot to tell you about including richard engel inside afghanistan with the state of the war there as we reach the 11-year mark. plus on sunday, it was "60 minutes." monday, "the daily show." arnold sits down with stewart a bit later in the show. first let's get to the news live at 5:30 a.m. here at 30 rock in new york city. a spirited, at times, testy debate last night as massachusetts republican incumbent senator scott brown met his democratic challenger,

elizabeth warren, at the university of massachusetts in lowell. it was the second of four scheduled debates as a new poll from "the boston globe" shows 18% of massachusetts voters still undecided and with warren holding a lead. right out of the gate, moderator david gregory asked about the controversy around elizabeth warren's claim to native american heritage. >> i never used the information about our native american heritage to get any advantage, not to apply to college, not to apply to law school, and not to get hired for any job. i was listed in a directory as -- i listed myself as native american. i was listed there. it's part of who i am. >> do you consider yourself a minority? >> i consider myself as having a native american background. that's what i said. that's what i am. >> no one is questioning what her parents told her when she was younger or all the way through that time frame. but when she was asked by "the boston herald" why is harvard

touting her as a woman of color, a minority, a woman of color, she said she didn't know. and then after five weeks of misleading the papers and the reporters, she said, i self-reported. and she's never answered why she, in fact, did that. >> one of the lines that jumped out at people has been senator brown was interrupted while trying to explain why he voted against democratic-backed bills. >> she's obviously misstating the facts. these are a rejection by both democrats and republicans, professor. if you're going to comment on my record, i would at least have you refer to it -- >> can we just -- >> excuse me, excuse me -- >> go ahead, senator. >> excuse me, i'm not a student in your classroom. please let me respond, okay? thank you. >> senator brown referred to warren as "professor warren" all night. the debate was also marked by a couple of stumbles, one there each candidates. ms. warren ran into trouble on the issue of bipartisanship while senator brown drew jeers from the crowd when asked to

name his model supreme court justice. >> can you name some republicans in the senate today that you are able to work with on big issues, substantive issues, that the country faces? >> i think probably richard lugar would be one that would come to mind. >> he's not going to be there. >> he's not going to be there. >> who else would you name, senator? >> that is a problem. let me just -- no, let me do this. >> let me just ask the question. are there any republicans who are actually going to be in the senate that you feel you could work with substantively and compromise with? >> look, it depends on what the subject matter is. >> let me see here. that's a great question. i think justice scalia is a very good judge, justice kennedy, justice kennedy is obviously very good, and justice roberts. justice sotomayor. i think they're very kwqualifie people. >> scalia and sotomayor don't exactly -- >> that's the beauty of being an independent, david.

>> if you had to pick one. if you had to pick one. >> listen, i don't need to pick one. we have plenty of justices up there, and i'm proud of the ones we have. >> ms. warren, who would be your model supreme court justice? >> i think it would probably be elena kagan. >> all right. >> warren later took to twitter where she retweeted a link to a news article highlighting senator brown's answer on the supreme court. as for the red sox, elizabeth warren said manager bobby valentine deserves another year. senator brown did not take a position, saying he would leave it up to red sox management. an important question in massachusetts. this morning early in-person voting begins in ohio, one day ahead of the first presidential debate in denver. that's where mitt romney was last night where he made his last scheduled public appearance before tomorrow night's face-off. the republican candidate received the endorsement of a local legend, hall of fame quarterback john elway. he introduced romney to a crowd of 5,000 supporters. >> i get the opportunity to

introduce to you the next president of the united states, governor mitt romney! >> last night romney who spent long hours preparing for tomorrow's debate said the stakes are greater than simply crowning a winner of the debate. >> people want to know who's going to win? who's going to score the punches and who's going to make the biggest difference and the arguments they make, and there's going to be all the scoring of winning and losing. you know, in my view, it's not so much winning and losing or even the people themselves, the president and myself. it's about something bigger than that. these debates are an opportunity for each of us to describe the pathway forward for america that we would choose. >> the president meanwhile spent most of the day yesterday preparing for the debate. at his nevada campaign headquarters. taking a break to deliver pizza to one of the local campaign offices. he then started working the phones to thank volunteers. >> that was very nice, you know.

you know, although basically they're keeping me indoors all the time. it's a drag. they're making me do my homework. >> also in henderson, nevada, last night, just eight miles away from where the president is staying, ann romney rallied a crowd of supporters with a banner reading "women for mitt" hanging behind her. today the obama campaign sending first lady michelle obama on the trail to talk to supporters in cincinnati. overseas, nato secretary-general says there is a possibility western forces could be withdrawn from afghanistan more quickly than previously planned. they suggested the deadly spike of insider attacks has hit the morale of foreign troops serving in the war zone. u.s. military officials say an attack on saturday that killed two americans was especially unnerving as several afghan soldiers and possibly insurgents opened fire from several directions. nbc's chief foreign correspondent, richard engel, has been covering this war for almost the full 11 years. he filed this report from kabul.

>> reporter: this woman is about to die. executed for adultery. the man she was with got off scot-free. the taliban recently filmed this video of their justice as a warning and to say they're making a comeback. some 30 miles away in the village, we saw few signs of what the u.s. would consider progress in afghanistan and no evidence that the american plan to hand over to a credible, stable afghan government will work. these village elders tell me once u.s. troops leave, a civil war will begin, and u.s.-trained afghan forces will not be able to stop it. are you preparing for this fight? are you already stockpiling weapons and ammunition and getting yourself ready? "yes, we are. we will definitely fight," he says. and what about the afghan government? it's meaningless here, they say. you think it's possible that the taliban will try and come back?

"yes, they will," he says. "it it makes a decades worth of american battles seem futile. it wasn't always like this. >> the united states military has begun strikes. >> reporter: at first -- >> one, two, three! >> reporter: -- the war had momentum. and a clear purpose. al qaeda with bases in afghanistan attacked the united states on 9/11. just three months later, the u.s. drove the taliban from power. al qaeda and osama bin laden were on the run. it was done with a few hundred cia officers, special forces and air power. a quick victory but not decisive. and then came the distraction of a new war in iraq. the taliban regrouped, and the u.s. began a nation-building project that has been far less successful. the government washington helped put in place is widely

considered corrupt. president karzai is supposed to be out by 2015. but afghans don't believe it. the war has brought some benefits to afghans. 3 million girls now go to school. that was banned under the taliban. better health care and new clinics have boosted life expectancy by as much as 22 years, but those gains could be temporary if the villagers here are right and the afghan government can't hold the country together, the taliban will fight their way back, undefeated by a superpower. >> that was nbc's richard engel reporting for us. "the new york times" reporting the u.s. ais bandening hopes of a peace deal with the taliban right on the front page today. the report says that goal has been scrapped in favor of a less ambitious plan that would have the after ghans work out a deal among themselves once u.s. combat troops withdraw.

now members of boeing will return to the bargaining table this afternoon after the union overwhelmingly rejected the company's most recent contract offer. the union's current contract expires on saturday. let's get the latest from karen chao. she's live for us in london. good morning, karen. >> reporter: good morning, willie. there are early alarm bells ringing we may see some sort of industrial action if a new contract can't be agreed. put forward by boeing yesterday, basically would have seen a 3.5% increase in pay down from the 5% that engineers and technicians currently enjoy was actually rejected by those workers. so back to the negotiating table. two schools of thoughts are playing out here as to whether boeing will just have to come up with more generous terms. on the other side, because we know that boeing needs these workers, it's got a backlog of orders about 4,057 orders sitting there in the wings. it also needs some of these engineers who need design specifications around one of its popular models, the 777, but it

also needs help from engineers to repair one of its other aircraft, the 787. at the same time, we know the manufacturing sector has been somewhat depressed. the latest figures we had out yesterday showed a glimmer of hope in the manufacturing sector in the states, but still, the employment sector picking up a little bit, 54.7 was the increase from 51.6, but it's still showing you that the manufacturing sector is not exactly skipping along. so the workers out there may not be finding it that easy to replace those positions. whether we will see this strike resolved before it gets to that next month, that's down to negotiations again today. willie, back to you. >> we'll be keeping an eye on that as will a lot of the business world. karen, thanks so much. still ahead on "way too early," tony romo must have been a big bears fan when he was playing in eastern illinois because he threw the ball to the monsters of the midway five times last night. two of them returned for touchdowns. "monday night football" highlight as head in sports. plus, arnold schwarzenegger stops by "the daily show." jon stewart admitting it's an uncomfortable interview.

we'll show you what the former governator had to say and get a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back. nice to meet you. can i call you joe? >> you can call me joe. >> i want to let you know what i did as a mayor and as a governor. i may not answer the questions the way that you want to hear, but i'm going to talk straight to the american people and let them know my track record.

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5:45 in the morning as we look at a live picture of washington, the monument there. let's get a check on weather from bill karins. hey, bill. >> not bad. still mild but we'll be ducking showers during the day today. everyone on the eastern seaboard has a chance of these showers from florida all the way back up even into pennsylvania. that's now where the rain has started, driving on the

pennsylvania turnpike over to harrisburg, light rain beginning. right around washington, d.c., it's a close call. the rain is on the west side of the beltway headed up towards rockville. downtown d.c. at least for now looks like you'll remain dry. increasing showers during the morning rush. just a little light rain. some of the heavier stuff eastern north carolina and also back there towards asheville and greenville, so far in charlotte and raleigh, just sprinkles for you. you look okay for your morning commute. as far as the forecast goes, eventually these showers will increase in areas like philadelphia, new york city and up into southern new england. so for this afternoon, it will be a better chance of rain. this morning i think you have a dry morning commute, though. all areas from philadelphia northwards up into new england. as far as the south goes, a lot of moisture heading down into florida. expect downpours today from miami northwards. even tampa has a good chance of thunderstorms today. that's about it. the rest of the country is absolutely gorgeous today. enjoy it while it lasts from billings to minneapolis to dallas. today in montana, 80 degrees and

sunny. and then tomorrow, we welcome that canadian air. this will be the first really good shot of cold air. we'll be in the 40s tomorrow in billings. and it looks like that cold air, willie, is going to rush down through the middle of the country and should arrive just about everywhere by the upcoming weekend. >> fall for real, finally. bill, thanks so much. let's turn to sports now. the bears in dallas take on the cowboys on "monday night football." "the dallas morning news" today sums it up for tony romo, "tough all over." second quarter, romo drops back on third and nine, picked off by charles "peanut" tillman, takes it all the way in for the easy pick six. bears up 10-0. romo has a little chat with dez bryant on the sideline about that one. third quarter, bears now in cowboys' territory. jay cutler, wide-open devin hester. that puts the bears up 17-7. nice catch there. cutler threw for 275, 2 scores, no picks. later in the third, romo's terrible night continues, giving

it up again. this time to the linebacker. ooh, that's ugly. lance briggs, nice move there, and busts up the gut. this is a linebacker. 75 yards for the touchdown. he's got wheels. second touchdown of the game for the bears' defense. that puts them up 24-7. tony romo mad at himself. it only gets worse from there. tony trying to get something going, picked again. this time by d.j. moore, also of the vanderbilt university. romo threw a total of five picks in the game. becomes the only player in nfl history ever to throw five picks on "monday night football" twice in his career. cowboys fall to 2-2. the bears tied for first in their division at 3-1. baseball, tigers can clinch a playoff spot with a win over the royals. pick it up in the sixth, miguel cabrera, do you give him the mvp, mike? a solo shot to right field. yes, says mike. his 44th home run of the year, giving them sole possession of the lead in all three triple-crown categories, trying to become the first triple crown

winner since yaz. front page of "the detroit news," "they're in!" tigers capture the division title in back-to-back seasons for the first time in more than 80 years. despite being in first place for 104 days this season, the white sox are now out of the playoff picture altogether. washington nationals also clinched the division title last night, the first for the franchise since 1981 when they were the montreal expos. also the first pennant for a baseball team in washington since 1933. the nationals still battling the reds for home field advantage throughout the playoffs. yankees have already punched their ticket to the postseason, but they're fighting the orioles for that a.l. east title so they don't have to slip into the wild card. they entered last night's game against the red sox tied with the orioles for the division lead. bottom of the second, this thing got ugly. robinson cano, that's a bomb. 446 feet off the face of the restaurant in center field. the yankees up 1-0. same inning. curtis granderson.

curls one inside the foul pole. that's a two-run home run. yankees score nine runs in the second inning. they win 10-2. and with the orioles' loss last night, the yankees take a one-game lead in that division race with two games to play. the oakland a's also clinched the final american league playoff spot with a win over the rangers last night. with that win, oakland eliminates the los angeles angels, a team many thought would make the playoffs and perhaps the world series with all that talent, the addition of pujols and mike trout. the a's within one game of the rangers in the west with two to go. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," highlights of the debate between scott brown and democratic challenger elizabeth warren. the crew bats it around in a few minutes. we'll huddle around the water cooler to watch arnold explain to jon stewart what compelled him a write a tell-all book and dredge up all this business for his family. we'll be right back. bob, these projections... they're... optimistic.

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we told you at the top of the show that republican senator scott brown and his democratic challenger, elizabeth warren, faced off last night in massachusetts in their second debate.

brown is in a close rate to keep his seat, something that few republican senators from massachusetts have been able to do in recent history. if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends the last republican senator representing massachusetts to win re-election, edward brooke in 1972. since that year, democratic senators from massachusetts have won re-election ten times. enough of the real news. let's huddle up around the water cooler to talk oscars. this year's host is the man behind the voices of peter griffin and stewie on "family guy." the academy announcing yesterday seth mcfarlane is host for the oscars in february. mcfarlane hosted "snl" season opener, presented an award at the emmy last month. he released a statement that reads in part, "i will do my utmost to live up to the high standards set forth by my predecessors, and i hope they don't find out i hosted the charlie sheen roast." hugh jackman hosted in 2009, alec baldwin and steve martin in 2010. they tried to go young in 2011 with james franco and anne

hathaway. and earlier this year, back to classics, billy crystal hosting for the ninth time. speaking of oscar hosts, two-time host, jon stewart, sat down last night on "the daily show" with former california governor arnold schwarzenegger. arnold making the rounds promoting "total recall," contains less than flattering details about his personal life including revelations about that affair with his former housekeeper. jon stewart tried to get into that subject by referring to arnold's acting career. >> so listen. so you obviously, you know, we've got to get the elephant out of the room. obviously what everybody's thinking about when they look at this is, what were you thinking with "jingle all the way"? i mean, seriously. just dreadful. just dreadful. did anybody ever say to you, like your family, don't do this, dude. don't, don't. >> i think that my kids have a hard time with that. >> sure. >> you know, look. this was very tough on maria.

>> sure. >> this was very tough on my children. it was very tough on some of my friends and everything like that. i disappointed all of them. >> very tough on me right now. i don't like this. >> thank you. i appreciate it. >> i'm uncomfortable. >> thank you. thank you. >> couldn't you just go to the future and then come back and kill that arnold and then -- couldn't there have been some -- there's got to be something you could do. >> i was trying to figure that out, but i couldn't come up with a solution. "terminator 16." >> "total recall." still ahead, why you're awake. "morning joe" just moments away. [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

we asked you at the top of the show what you're doing up at this hour. john tower has answers. tower, what do you got? >> i have petey on twitter. i'm awake trying to figure out how they got mark sanchez to wear tony romo's jersey in dallas. >> that's just cruel. tony romo wishes he was mark sanchez last night, five interceptions for romo, two of them returned for touchdowns. there's peanut tillman going to the house.